Percy Jackson and the Hunt for the Missing Gold
by GreekSailor
Summary: Percy Jackson agrees to accompany Travis and Connor Stoll on a quest to find a leprechaun's gold.
1. I'm Too Eager to Almost DieAgain

Once, a long time ago now, I told you I didn't ask to be a demigod. I didn't and truthfully, I still don't. I told you it usually gets you killed in extremely nasty, painful ways. That's true. But, I didn't tell you that one of the reasons you'll probably die is that for some reason, once you realize you're a demigod, you tend to befriend the most insane, no-brained people on the planet… If you still wake up one day and realize your mom or dad is a little more divine than most, if you're smart, you'll only talk to kids from the Athena Cabin. They're smart and safe and can get you out of almost any situation. Here's the real advice though: by all means, stay away from the children of Hermes.

I honestly thought it would be fun. I was due for a new adventure. Even Annabeth Chase (she's my girlfriend in case you didn't know) told me to go and have a good time. But now, while I'm running for my life from crazy, money hungry leprechauns, right behind Travis and Connor Stoll, I'd much prefer sitting at camp making urns and teaching new campers how to hold a sword. I thought the Stolls knew what they were doing. Why, I really don't know, but for some reason those two sons of Hermes can be really convincing. They better hope they don't lose that special talent of theirs so they can convince me not to wring their scrawny necks if we get out of this mess…

It all started yesterday morning. I was walking from the Poseidon Cabin to the Athena Cabin to meet Annabeth before breakfast. When I got there, she was waiting for me with one of her deep in thought looks and Stoll 1 and Stoll 2 grinning down at her. I still have trouble telling them apart. I know Travis is the older one and I think he's a little taller, but they're both always slouching, bending down trying to lean into people to make a deal or something, exactly what they were doing to my girlfriend at that moment. I knew this usually meant trouble, but they were scared of her because of some prank gone wrong when they were kids, so they definitely weren't trying a prank or something. Finally she spoke up, "Well it's not up to me, but I'll ask him. Just make sure he's home in time for our date tomorrow night or you'll have problems."

"Yes ma'am." Connor and Travis said it unison and mock saluted her before they turned and spotted me. They smiled at me and winked before they ran off towards the dining pavilion. I've known them for almost five years now and considered them both good friends, but they still made really uneasy whenever they smiled at me. But as soon as I looked away, there was another smile shining at me, and honestly I couldn't think of anything else after that. Connor and Travis who?

I kissed her like I did every morning, and we held hands while walking to the pavilion. I asked about her evening because she was working on a huge project with her siblings and I didn't get to see her last night. I like when she talks even if I don't always understand. I think sometimes she believes I'm not paying attention, but I always am. She's really good at helping me with the ADHD thing. When we were finally in line for food though, two pairs of identical eyes were staring at us from the end of the Hermes table giving me an uneasy feeling again. "Wise Girl, I'm afraid to ask, but why are Travis and Connor staring at me like I'm either going to take them to Disney World or feed them to the Nemean Lion?"

"Oh, they want you to go on a little quest with them. Some kind of Hermes Cabin legend. I never heard of it actually so I—"

"Wait, what? _You_ never heard of it? Is this a prank or some—"

"Percy, honestly, I doubt that. Let me finish though. They thought I could convince you to go better than they could. They want you to go to Ireland with them to find leprechaun gold. No child of Hermes has ever completed the task though. It kind of reminds me of the Mark of the Athena to be honest. Kind of gave me the chills, but then they explained that's only because no child of Hermes ever even tried. This is the first attempt. They already got the okay from Chiron and even support from their dad. He was really proud of their initiative for planning this all out. You don't have to go or anything, but you were their first choice for the third member of their group. They leave this evening, and it should be a really short quest. You just have to let them know after we eat."

"Oh, well that's not bad at all. I'll, uh, think about it." The truth was I was dying to go on a quest. I mean I was so glad that things were finally calmed down for me: no titans, no giants, no angry gods. But I was getting bored. After having that much adventure, how could I be expected just to sit around at camp all summer and train. It was nice for the first week, I'll admit that much. But now, I needed something… something besides the plate full of bacon and scrambled eggs.

"Percy, just go tell them yes already. Your eyes are glazing over and you have that dreamy look in your eyes. Just make sure you're home in enough time to get ready for tomorrow night." She was smirking at me. She probably knew what I was really thinking as soon as I said 'I think.' That's more her department.

"Gods, I love you." I kissed her again, ignoring the whoops and hollers from the campers, then threw a few pieces of bacon into the fire. _For Poseidon. _And as an afterthought, I added, _and for Hermes._

I ate quickly as always. It's lonely when you're the only one in your cabin. I kind of wished that the lone campers could just sit together. There weren't many of us though. Just me and Pollux now actually. Anyway, I was about to get up when Travis and Connor sat down. It was kind of against the rules, but for some reason, no one ever said anything when people sat at my table.

"So, what do you say? You'll come right?"

"You were of course our first choice. We owe you."

"Yeah, and we need three. Me and Connor work together all the time."

"But we've worked with you too. You have the experience with quests that we need."

"And we have the experience in what we'll be doing for this quest."

That should have been a red flag right there. Connor and Travis were the two sons of Hermes who ran the cabin. They had every Hermes kid ability known and their main one was the ability to steal anything without being detected. But in that moment, I was so excited to be going, I didn't think about that.

"Of course guys. I wouldn't miss it. When do we leave?"

They gave me identical smirks and identical handshakes.

"You are the best."

"We leave at 3pm."

"See you then! Meet us by the pine."

"And by the way…"

"I'll be wearing blue, and I'm Travis."

"And I'll be the Stoll in red. I think you can figure out which one I am now."

"Do you guys always have to talk in lines like that because, I'm not going to lie, it's really annoying." I was smiling though. Every time we got together, it was a blast. Literally. Something usually exploded when they were around. They knew how to make me laugh though, and despite their bad reputations for stealing and conning people out of money, they were two of the best guys I ever met in my entire life. They laughed and ran off to get ready without a response. My own getting ready process usually took five minutes because that's all the time I had. I wasn't really sure what people did while waiting to go. My sword was already in my pocket as always. I only needed one change of clothes and my shield. I was so used to five minute prep time, that I didn't need any more than that. I was glad too. I got to spend more time with Annabeth before we left. We practiced in the arena, then sat by the lake. The small stuff like that is my favorite though…

Finally, it was time to go though. I made a quick Iris message to Mom before I set out for the tree. Annabeth walked with me until I got there. The Stoll brothers had already arrived and were in a heavy conversation about who was driving. They had a gleam in their eyes already that even their disagreement couldn't take away.

"You two better behave, got it. Don't get him into trouble either. And please stay safe, all three of you." Annabeth hugged Travis, then Connor. I knew they were close, so it I wasn't jealous or anything. They knew her before I did. They made it to camp just a little after she did, and because of Luke, well…yeah they were just close. It was my turn for a hug now though. She hugged me really tight, and I realized at that moment that this was the first quest I was going on totally without her. For a brief moment, I almost changed my mind. Then she whispered in my ear. "I love you, Seaweed Brain. Don't even think of getting hurt or you'll regret it. Now go, have a good time." And then after a kiss that made my mind a little fuzzy, I was on my way, and that moment of doubt was long gone.


	2. I Kind of Pass through New York

Chapter 2: I Kind of Pass though New York

"So, uh, Connor, Travis, I agreed to join you two, but I forgot to ask what exactly we're doing." It was true. I just wanted to go on a quest so badly, I probably would have agreed to go to Pluto (the ex-planet and not the god…I wasn't quite _that_ desperate okay that's a lie too) and back or something without even noticing. "Annabeth mentioned Ireland."

"Ah, but yes, me lad. Ireland it is." Travis turned and addressed me with a fake Irish accent.

"The land of our people filled with the legends of leprechauns and four leafed clovers." Connor followed suit and continued with the fake accent.

"Where a wee bit of luck…" At this point I was sure that they had been rehearsing this for hours.

"Means a whole heck of a lot of gold for us to bring home, baby." Connor broke character and said the last line in full American fashion ending with a high five and everything.

"Connor. You ruined it!" Travis smacked his brother on the back of the head, and I think I let out a stifled laugh. I had to admit… These guys were pretty funny. "But yeah, Ireland, following the rainbow to find the leprechauns' pot of gold. It's that simple. Right?"

I've been on quests enough times to know it's never that simple, but I didn't want to bring them down so I just nodded. "Was there a prophecy or something along with this? Or is this just a whim?"

"Yeah, like a hundred year old prophecy. It's a legend in our cabin. No one's ever stolen a leprechaun's gold before though. Everyone's been way too scared to even try. The Lucky Charms commercials are so not realistic. You want to hear it?"

"'Course he does, Little Brother." Travis grinned, and I prepared myself for another one of the weird 'let's complete each other's sentences every time we speak to someone' things.

"_When three ones only equal two,"_

"_It will finally be the time for you,"_

" _To take up flight with the sea."_

"_The green man's gold yours will be."_

"_But caution for only the one chosen trio,"_

"_Will be the ones to seal the dealio."_

I blinked a few times and let it sink in. "Wait a second, did you say seal the _dealio_?"

"Okay, so maybe some of it has been lost in translation over the years, and we fixed it up a little. It can't be that off right? But think about it. Even though we hate it and will deny it at all other occasions, me and Travis are identical in every possible way besides the tiny fact that I'm way smarter and better looking." Travis muttered something that sounded like _you're a lying idiot_ in ancient Greek, but Connor ignored him. "We have the same skills, hobbies, and interests. We work as a team in just about everything we do. It's almost like we share one brain sometimes."

"You're telling me."

"I am telling you Percy. That's why I'm talking." He looked genuinely confused by my comment for a second. "But yeah, so even though we're two people it's kind of like we're only one. And then there's you. So one plus one plus one equals two if it's us."

"See it actually makes sense, Percy! We were meant for this quest. And then the next part. 'Take up flight with the sea.' You're the sea Percy! We've seen it. You have the sea inside of you; therefore you're the sea! Green men are leprechauns. Leprechauns live in Ireland and in Louisiana but those are not the leprechauns we're looking for." Travis waved his hand like he was Jedi. "So yeah, that's what's going on. Anymore questions?"

The trademark Stoll smirks were beaming at me making me want to not question anything in the world ever again, so we could just move on and they could stop staring at me. "No…" There was something though that was really bugging me but I couldn't figure it out yet.

"Great. This way." They said it unison and pointed towards the woods.

"The forest?" I followed behind them completely bewildered as to why. "Guys I really don't think Ireland is— Whoa." Hidden behind the trees was a huge lot of super nice cars, and when I say super nice, I mean so nice these cars made the doctors' reserved parking area at the hospital look like a Crazy Carl's Cheap Used Car lot. There were Porches no one had even seen outside of the internet and Ferraris that weren't even released yet. "Where did these come from? How did you get them all?" I was a little awed.

"We're sons of Hermes. Do you really want to know?" Travis grinned with pride.

" So maybe there was some grand theft auto involved, but think of it more like Robin Hood and Little John." Connor seemed pretty proud too.

"Me and Connie here have a little part time job playing rob from the robbers when we get bored. So, we may have an uncontrollable desire to steal everything we see, but if we steal from like really bad people it's not quite as bad. Right?"

"Yeah, it makes Mom feel better about it too. We just keep our favorites. The rest are sent to various donation places. Didn't think the Stoll Bros were secretly angels at heart did you? You should also know that we're extremely wealthy and don't rob innocent people unless they are newbies at camp. It's more like a welcome to camp gag anyways."

"We also own half of the country through various shady business tactics and con jobs, but that's also another story."

I just stood there with my mouth open staring. All this time of knowing them, I never would have guessed the Stolls had a few billion dollars stashed away, a few multimillion dollar corporations, and a secret lot of the world's coolest cars…I mean every time I saw then they were in matching clothes: orange camp shirts and jean shorts. It kind of made me realize just how little I still knew about so many of my friends. "I—Whoa." I still couldn't form words. They both thought that was funny and shook my shoulders at the same time.

"I'm driving." Again in unison… This was really getting annoying…

"No you're not. You drove last time." Connor argued first.

"But I'm older."

"But I'm better at over water."

"But I'm taller."

"That doesn't make me the short straw though."

"Fine. Zeus…"

"Poseidon…"

"Hades..."

"Shoot." They said this together too and each popped up with one of their choices. This was their own personal version of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Travis chose Hades whose symbol was apparently putting both arms over his neck and acting poisoned. Connor chose Poseidon whose symbol was the super lame scuba dance move. Connor won though which, I won't lie, made me feel a little proud.

"HA! See Tyche does like me better. We're taking the Camero."

"The Camero? Seriously?" I was kind of super bummed. "I mean that's a great car I'd love to have, just that with all these nice cars around isn't that one kind of..." I let my voice trail off as Connor gave me this look like I just kicked his puppy.

"Dude, that car is my brother's pride and joy! It's like my niece practically. Dad gave it to him for his sixteenth birthday. I have one too, and I'd probably cry if anyone insulted him. Connor's is a little different though. It just doesn't feel right to me. And for some reason his is a girl. Dad gets it. We like that we're super close and stuff, and it's nice having your brother as your best friend, but we're still different people." Travis immediately jumped to his brother's side and threw an arm over his shoulder.

"Yeah yeah…I mean we do have identical DNA and even fingerprints so we're a genetic anomaly, but who's counting that? I like red heads, and he likes brunettes." It must have been weird to be so alike. Since they only got mortal DNA from their mom, it was almost like they were clones. My brother was a different species, and I was still kind of glad. I don't think I liked the idea of another me running around like Travis and Connor seem to. "But yeah, she's the best car on the lot though. Besides she's the only one that can fly." Before I could ask, Connor pulled a keychain out of his pocket and pushed a button on it. A car pulled up on its own from the opposite end of the lot. It was a fire engine red, pinstriped, one of kind, custom model Camero. "Meet my baby."

"She's beautiful." It was kind of a lame thing to say but it's all I could think of. Those words did not do this car justice. No wonder Connor looked hurt. Like if Annabeth were a car, she'd be this Camero. Yeah, it was that perfect. The car glowed practically and the Porches and Ferraris suddenly were not as cool.

"Hop in." Connor nodded towards the car, and I obeyed. Instead of the tiny backseat I was expecting was a huge roomy row of seats with lots of space. Connor got into the driver's seat and Travis into the passenger's. "Buckle up Percy. It's going to be one heck of a ride." With that he floored it.

To say we were going fast would have been an understatement. The farm road was disappearing by the second and the city was getting bigger. I glanced at the speedometer and wished I hadn't. According to it we were going 524mph… And it kept rising. "How are we not dead going this fast?!"

"Again dude. Sons of Hermes, god of travelers and travels. So basically we're really amazing drivers too. Come on you didn't just think we only become evil titan lords and thieves right?" Travis laughed at his brother's comments, but I didn't think they were that funny because no offense to the children of Hermes or anything but that's kind of all I had to go on at this point… I pretended to laugh anyway.

Before I knew it, the buildings were a becoming a blur. I still don't remember getting into the city, but I remember clear as day how I freaked out before remembering who my dad was when Connor sped off a pier straight into the Atlantic. "We're driving on water?"

"Uh well I think we may be going fast enough for that to actually be possible, but I turned on the hover feature just in case." This was a new one for me. "It is now safe to roam around the cabin." Connor mimicked a flight attendant's voice and pressed a huge button that said autopilot. "Get comfy boys, we have about two hours to kill before we hit land." Two hours, even with all this room, would not be fun with my ADHD and theirs… "Though I may have an idea to keep Percy entertained at least. Travis, eh, you can watch a movie or something." Connor pressed another button and the roof of the car began to disappear. I was now going about 1000mph surrounded by nothing but ocean on all sides. On a whim I took off my seat belt and stood up in the back seat. I felt pretty alive in that moment. Full of energy and excitement. Nothing could go wrong on a quest for fun right? Well we all know I was wrong, but I wouldn't find out for another few hours. I just decided to take advantage of my powers. I stared into the ocean and made waves, talked to whales, and had a really nice relaxing time before all of Tartarus broke loose.


End file.
